Returning to
by lovebug21
Summary: Pain... He can feel it. All of it: the past, the present, the future. All of it, and it is tearing itself apart...


Hello… Yes, I have given in and decided to start writing again. I'm not sure where I am going with this, but I am really excited. I've dearly missed writing, and have adjusted my writing style. I am not nearly as angsty as I was before. I didn't like the way my mind was going, so I deleted my old stories (CSI and CSI/Transformers) and I am not reposting them…

Okay. To this story: Again, I have a general idea of a direction; not sure how I am going to get there… Big Note: This starts out with the 12th Doctor… You'll see my goal later (or I will post a note at the end of the chapter that I get what I want done). I take artistic license. I know only so much and can only remember so much. Besides, time is a funny thing. It goes around and around, and all around, and never really knows which way is back up again.

Doctor Who belongs to its producers and BBC… But, man, I sure do love it.

Enjoy

D-W-D-W-D-W-D-W-D-W-D-W-D-W-D-W-D-W-D-W-D-W-D-W

Pain.

There is always so much pain.

….

His feet became heavier with every step. She was calling him, beckoning him closer. _Go._ The voice in his head, the presence around his hearts: _Go… go… go…_ She whispers; no more than the seed of suggestion. _Go…_

"Where!? Where do you want me to go!?" The rage in his voice rising with every word. "Where do you want me to _go!?_"

His rage deterred her from her inclination… With every step an echo travelled through the aging TARDIS. The vortex, her heart, struggled to continue its steady rhythm. She was dying… He was dying. Wrinkled hands scratched a grey head; thin face frowned in frustration. What could he see? Nothing more than decaying walls and rusting controls. No one on board to hear his malicious bellows; no one other than the prisoners of the TARDIS. Only they could see and hear his pain… because no one else could stay… would stay…

…

_6 months earlier_

"Here we are! The 43rd century, Earth's time, for your benefit," he said with a wink. Sparkling teeth shined behind the man's wide grin. Beside him, a woman beautiful and fit for her age, stood wide eyed at the planet before her.

"It's… Wow… wow," she said with a tear in her eye. "Is this, w- what, no, where are we?" Eyes like emeralds turned to look at the marvelous man standing beside her. "What is this place called?"

Sincere, and honest, "This," he steps outside the TARDIS's protective shield, arms spread wide, "this! All _this _around us! Yes! This is your Earth… Think… Twenty-two centuries from your time, _this _is the Earth and how she looks!"

Her awed expression brought joy to his hearts. A happiness he thought gone was returning.

"Isn't she beautiful?"

Her reaction was not what he had expected.

"No… This is not my Earth…"

They had been travelling together for three months. Rarely had they encountered life endangering circumstances. Always, they expected them, but they had yet to fight for their lives… but, she often found herself wondering, 'is it worth it?'

"Victoria? What… what do you mean?" The Time Lord, still adapting to his new body, his new personality, asked in confusion. "I thought-"

Abruptly, she interrupted, "I can't do this, this travelling thing…" Her face read shame while her eyes, remorse, "I just can't do it. Everywhere we go, no matter the people, the species, I see nothing but my country home and waiting children. Yes, they are adults, but I still wish to be with them. I want my family; if they can't be here, then neither should I."

The silence that fell was heavy but empty…

Finally, turning towards the TARDIS doors, he said, "I understand."

Two words, only two, that would alter the timeline, his life, forever…

…

_Present_

"WHERE DO YOU WANT ME TO GO!?"

The screeching of the TARDIS's heart threatened the integrity of his sanity, or what sanity he had left.

_All of space and time rests in the palms of your hands, Doctor. You must change fate… without it, fate will change itself. Scars are the mending of flesh, new skin hiding old wounds. I am dying, my Doctor. I am dying… as are you. The past has a way of repeating itself, my Doctor, and you, you…_

The ship jerked and jarred his weary body; his strength failed. Bones thudding against steel ground joined the chaotic melody of alarms and shrieks within the control room. Red lights flashed, screens shattered, the walls tore: the TARDIS was ripping apart…

"No…No, no, no, no!" Weak arms outstretched, reached for something to hold, anything to hold… "Old girl…"

_Time rests in the palms of your hands… One time, many faces… One time, one place… Many faces, one savior…_

That voice, his voice, "Business isn't finished."

Eyes of winter wildly panned the room. "Master?"

_Many faces, one man…_

He could feel the past, the present, and the future as it shred his body apart. 'I'm going to die.'

_One chance to change it all…_

Like a bursting star, white light blinded him; sent into nothingness.

Note: Victoria is an OC, may or may not be brought back in… Just remember, "I understand."

What do you think?


End file.
